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The Men From The Press closes
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 25 March 2010
The Men From The Press, the previously reported online service which planned to offer a “brand new type of music PR” by paying journalists to fill out online feedback forms after listening to unsigned and self-releasing artists who signed up to the website, announced yesterday that it was closing its doors, a matter of weeks after launching, following widespread derision from both the journalism and PR communities.
As previously reported, the journalists who signed up to the scheme, who were seemingly all freelancers, did not commit to give anything they listened to any actual coverage in any of the media they work for (and in many cases would not be able to anyway), but, rather, they provided a direct critique to each paying artist, which might constitute useful feedback in itself and, if positive, could be used in a band’s other publicity. That said, the aim obviously was to force participating journalists to expose themselves to the music bands had paid to upload to the website, in the hope some of the hacks would genuinely like some of music, and then become influential champions of those bands.
Though in theory there was nothing ethically wrong with the service – providing paying bands knew they were buying feedback not coverage – because the service charged a per journalist fee, and because the rate card listed the publications each writer worked for (minus their names), and also because the fee was higher the more esteemed the publication, some argued that the implication was that you could, in fact, buy coverage.
Certainly it would have been easy for less media-savvy exposure-hungry new artists to misconstrue what was actually on offer, and little was done to stress that actual coverage was not for sale. The page on the website where artists selected which writers they wanted feedback from was topped with this explanation: “Listed below are the current publications our journalists write for together with their respective submission fees, which are to cover our admin costs and journalist submission fees – there are no other hidden charges! Please note: Most of our journalists write for several publications, which is why some are bundled together as below… the submission fees are for each bundle, so this gives you more value for money”.
As a result, many of the publications listed requested that their titles be removed from the site, even if some of their freelance contributors were actually involved in the new service, because they didn’t want confused bands to think editorial coverage was for sale. Meanwhile, some of the journalists signed up seemingly withdrew their services, possibly because the publishers and editors of the titles they write for had started to express concerns. Or possibly because they never really understood what the Men From The Press offer was going to be. Some of the service’s participating journalists said they were originally approached by someone who simply asked if they would like to be paid to give feedback to new bands, without being told they’d be participating in a new kind of music publicity venture.
A statement posted on the website yesterday by founder Dave Chisholm, and also emailed to signed up artists, read: “The whole point of themenfromthepress.com was to provide PR in a ‘brand new way’. So bands, artists and small labels who simply haven’t got the funds would be given a chance! I put a hell of a lot of work into this and set TMFTP up for all the right reasons and with all the best intentions to help new bands and artists as I know how tough it is for them in this business… But we have now been shot down in flames!
He continued: “Certain publications and some traditional PR companies (who I will not name) have made it impossible for us to carry on through their constant slanderous remarks and activities which have damaged our reputation to the point where we have lost all heart with the project. And so sadly and with great regret we have now closed! I would like to say a very big thank you to the many bands artists and journalists who have and still support us … I tried to make a difference but sorry guys… they wont let us…”
Chisholm also said that all subscription and submission fees would be refunded to those artists who had signed up. Though those artists who opted to pay by PayPal were never charged in the first place, because a glitch in the website’s programming meant that, although subscription fees were charged, those paying by the online payment system were able to submit their music for review without paying anything at all.
